


Say it with Flowers

by ThisIsLitaE



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Barisi - Freeform, Cute, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Flowers, M/M, Pride Month Barisi Challenge 2020, Romantic Fluff, Sonny loves suspenders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24596128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisIsLitaE/pseuds/ThisIsLitaE
Summary: Dominick is filled with doubt when his "I love you" isn't returned right away. He should know it's only because Rafael doesn't want to half-ass such an important declaration.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 55
Collections: Barisi Pride 2020





	Say it with Flowers

Dominick Carisi stood in front of the mirror, fixing his hair for the day ahead. He took longer than usual, hoping that it would assist in calming his less than perfect mood. The detective didn’t know what he was going to say to Rafael when he left the privacy of the bathroom. All he knew was that he couldn’t avoid his boyfriend forever.

Dominick slipped on the same suit he’d been wearing the day before. The detective mentally berated himself for not leaving a spare in Rafael’s apartment for when he spent the night. Everyone at the precinct was sure to notice he hadn’t changed clothes, provoking some good natured ribbing about his relationship with the ADA. Normally he could laugh it off but that day was a different story.

The previous evening, Dominick had worked up the courage and told Rafael Barba that he loved him. The feeling when he let the words escape was amazing. He’d looked into Rafael’s eyes and they’d surrendered into a passionate kiss, which quickly developed into frisky bedroom play. It was only in the afterglow of post-coital bliss that Dominick realised that Rafael had not said the words back.

He didn’t want to rush Rafael into saying the words but Dominick still couldn’t deny that it hurt. The truth was that he’d always admired the ADA, long before they’d pursued a relationship. Rafael liked to play things close to the vest, an occupational hazard of being a lawyer, which fuelled Dominick’s secret, if unfounded, fears that his boyfriend didn’t love him as much.

Taking a deep breath, Dominick stepped out of the bathroom and made his way to Rafael’s kitchen. His boyfriend was standing by the espresso maker, mug in one hand and smart phone in the other. Even half ready, Rafael had a gift of looking more put together than most people. That day was no exception.

Dominick‘s eyes naturally fell to the suspenders that draped over Rafael’s body. Today the ADA had chosen red ones that stood out against the white business shirt. Dominick could never explain why the suspenders drove him so crazy, only that the desire to grab them and pull Rafael to him often invaded his thoughts.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” Rafael greeted him with a smile and bright eyes, seemingly unaware that his boyfriend had been brooding in the bathroom minutes earlier.

“Fine, but I could use some of this.” Dominick grabbed the coffee mug Rafael offered him, sipping it gratefully. He looked down at his own phone to check the time, partly to avoid eye contact with the ADA.

Rafael slipped an arm around Dominick’s waist, kissing his cheek. “What’s on your agenda for today?”

“No calls from Lieu during the night, so it looks like a paperwork day until someone gets up to no good.” Dominick replied, unable to resist resting his head against Rafael’s shoulder for a moment.

“Well, if it gets too tedious, you can always come by and help me out with case notes.” Rafael playfully pinned Dominick against the counter, his eyes showing a hint of lust. “Then if that gets too tedious, we can always take a short recess.”

Before Dominick could reply, Rafael pressed their lips together in a kiss. Falling into the warm moment, the detective found himself grabbing the red suspenders and pulling Rafael closer. As a sweet, familiar tongue smoothly glided against his own, Dominick thought about how much he loved Rafael’s seductive side and how much he loved Rafael Barba in general.

As their kiss broke, Dominick could feel the words on his lips again. It took a lot of will power to catch the declaration before it escaped again. Repeating his love wouldn’t do any good, particularly if the sentiment was once again not returned. He cupped Rafael’s cheek and stared into the beautiful green eyes, telepathically willing the other man to say the words back.

“I can see the gears running in your mind. What’s going on, Dominick?”

Rafael’s soft voice using his seldom spoken first name nearly caused him to confess the truth. He looked down and ran a finger down the length of Rafael’s red suspender. Before he could reply, a text message sounded from one of their phones. Dominick used the distraction to play it cool and avoid further conversation.

“I should probably go now. Reports aren’t going to type themselves.”

  
* * * * *

  
Dominick continued typing up the plethora of paperwork required. He almost wished for someone to commit a crime to give him something less monotonous to fill his day. There was always the option of heading to Rafael’s office, even Lieutenant Benson had said it would be okay if Dominick was on top of his reports. It was tempting but he figured it best to have some space from Rafael for the moment.

“You know for someone wearing yesterday’s suit, you don’t seem too happy.” Amanda Rollins leaned over Dominick’s desk to meet his eye line. “Barba do something to piss you off?”

Continuing to type up his reports, Dominick replied bluntly. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

Rollins raised an eyebrow at the response. “That bad, huh? Come on, we could have a coffee and bitch if you want.”

Dominick held up a hand to stop her, hoping she’d stop pushing the issue and leave him with his thoughts. Rollins may have known Dominick the best of the precinct but he could not talk to her about love. He also sensed that she would pick at Rafael’s shortcomings in order to make him feel better, which was the last thing Dominick needed.

“I don’t want to talk bad about my boyfriend. Just leave it alone, Rollins.”

Rollins stepped back at the unexpected sharp tone and proceeded to walk away. “Whoa, I’ll leave you to it then.”

Dominick ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Logically, he knew he should be grateful to be in a relationship with someone special. It was just hard to shake the mentor/mentee dynamic from before the two men confessed their deeper attraction. Dominick couldn’t help but wonder if he was still not quite equal, if he still had ways to go to fully impress Rafael.

A ping from his smart phone interrupted Dominick’s thoughts. He looked at the clock and realised that it was time for lunch. The text on the screen from Rafael confirmed this.

**I’m coming to the precinct to meet you for lunch. ETA 10 minutes.**

Dominick felt his stomach rumble and stood up to stretch his legs. Craving a cola caffeine hit, he decided to get himself a soda while waiting for Rafael to arrive. While walking passed the entrance, a man with a nice bouquet of red gerbera daisies caught Dominick’s eye. Out of curiosity, he decided to approach.

“Can I help you with something, sir?”

The man turned and looked at an invoice in his hand. “Yes, I have a flower delivery for a Dominick Carisi.”

“That’s me. I’ll take those from you.” Dominick found himself smiling involuntary as he took the beautiful bright red bouquet. “Are these from Rafael Barba by any chance?”

The delivery man shrugged in reply, making his exit. “Don’t know, I just deliver. Check for a card.”

Dominick took the flowers into the break room, which was surprisingly empty given the time of day. While getting himself a soda from the vending machine, he couldn’t take his eyes off the gerbera daisies. As a result he pushed the button for orange soda instead of cola.

As the delivery man suggested, he sat down and looked for any card attached. There was no message of any kind on the flowers. Dominick figured they had to be from Rafael, as it was unlikely he’d attracted a secret admirer that would fork out so much for flowers.

“Well, what a beautiful bunch of red gerbera daisies.”

Dominick looked up to find Rafael had arrived. He was wearing the black pinstriped suit that Dominick always favoured on his boyfriend. The ADA had a wide smile on his face as he approached. An arm snaked around the detective’s shoulders and a sweet kiss was bestowed in his hair.

“Reminds me of a story a handsome detective told me about two young and naughty Italian siblings stealing them from the botanical gardens.” Rafael murmured softly into the silvery blonde strands.

Dominick began to get teary eyed as Rafael sat down beside him. “I can’t believe you remembered that.”

Rafael grabbed Dominick’s hands in his own and stared at his boyfriend with complete earnestness. “Despite your best efforts to hide it this morning, I know it bothered you when I didn’t say those words back last night. Just like it bothered me that you got to be the one who said it first because you’ve driven me crazy for way too long now.”

Dominick laughed softly in reply. “I didn’t want to rush you in case -”

“Don’t even complete that thought. You’re the most important person in my life.” Rafael confessed, bringing Dominick’s hands to his lips and kissing them gently. “So important that I wasn’t going to just piggyback off your declaration.”

“Rafael.” The name was all Dominick could say through emotional chuckles as he squeezed his boyfriend’s hands.

Finally, Rafael looked into Dominick’s eyes and said the long awaited words. “I love you, Dominick Carisi.”

Dominick leaned in and kissed Rafael’s lips gratefully. He continued planting loving pecks, trailing to the ADA’s cheeks and any part of the handsome face he could get. “You know, now that you’ve said it, I’m going to need to hear it every day.”

Rafael pressed his forehead against Dominick’s and rolled his eyes playfully. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Unable to resist, Dominick took Rafael’s bottom lip between both of his again. He hummed in satisfaction as the kiss deepened and Rafael’s mouth opened for him. Everything around him disappeared when the two tongues passionately met and the couple's arms wound around each other.

Finn Tutuola’s voice rang out across the breakroom, bringing them both back to reality. “Whoa, come on you two. People eat in here.”

Dominick sniffed out a laugh as he parted from Rafael, too happy to be annoyed at the interrupted kiss. “Looks like that might be our cue to go out for lunch.”

The detective gave his colleague an apologetic look but was unable to help smiling wide. He picked up the gerbera daisies in one hand, while sliding the other hand up and down Rafael’s back. Planting a soft kiss in the hair of the man he loved, Dominick walked out of the precinct and into a better day.

**Author's Note:**

> *Barisi Pride Challenge Prompts: Red + Declaration of Love  
> *Additional non Barisi prompt - Men like getting flowers too  
> *My head-canon has Rafael being one of the few people to call Carisi "Dominick"  
> *I'm surprised I didn't use the colour red to bring back the Fordham U pen - haha  
> *Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!


End file.
